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2025-26 Marlies Thread

Ah, I was wondering why Brandon Baddock went so soon (no disrespect to him).

Once Shaw handed it off to Benning and then Mermis*, I figured they’re doing that everyone is equally important but we gotta go one at a time and since most of us can’t read good, we gotta go age order.

* Mermis is older than Benning
 
I think it was a wonderful thing to see.
I feel for a lot of these guys. They get hurt and physically damaged as much as NHLers. They work as hard or maybe harder. They're so close in talent and ability to being able to play in the NHL.

In the latter part of these playoffs, Thrun & Benning were the top pairing and played well. Villeneuve racked up the dman points but Mermis had his back defensively big time. Danford broke in but Rifai had his back. It is possible that Thrun, Benning, Mermis & Rifai could snag a 6/7 spot on a NHL team with a weaker D. Maybe they will but usually, they don't.

Bottom six players like Sim, Johnstone, Pezzetta, Haymes & Pare - similar story.

They gave their all to their team and their Marlies fans. And so another AHL season passes.

This may be as good as it will get for many of them. They tried their best, proved what a complete team effort could do with a hot goalie and entertained me. So I'm very glad to see them get this moment. They deserved it.
 
If anyone is a bit down on this win that the Leafs prospects weren’t driving the bus on a veteran-laden Marlies squad, well what situation are those Leafs prospects heading into if they make the NHL roster?

That said, Cowan and Danford, and obviously Akhtyamov played huge roles within that structure so there are potential bus drivers in the making.
 
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I hope there are some young guys on the Marlies that can turn into players for the Leafs
Tverberg, Quillan, Danford, Villeneuve, Haymes, Chadwick, Sim, Akhtyamov, Beast all have the potential to be NHLers. Not top end talent but definitely usable players. Another to the list is Thrun who was a beast for them on the PK. We'll see where it goes but Tverberg, Quillan, Villeneuve should get a good look in the fall.
 
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